Stones & Steel
by OddShot505
Summary: After a chance happening, both Autobots and Gems are forced to meet each other. With two factions now aware of the other presence, what effect will this have on the planet? (A request from Purpleolaf96)
1. Chapter 1

"The scraplets really did a number on this place." Bulkhead said, picking up a rather piece of debris.

"Indeed, but let us just be thankful that it wasn't _us_ that ended up on the pile." Ratchet said, using his welding tool on a piece of his equipment.

"Agreed. While nearly freezing to death isn't my idea of a better experience, I do not envy any of you." Arcee said.

"Neither circumstance is something that I wish to find myself or any of you in again any time soon." Optimus said, giving Arcee a hand with lifting, "We owe a lot to our friends for all the help they have provided."

"I'll say. Hey, where are they anyway?" Bulkhead asked, looking around for the kids.

"They're in the back with Bumblebee." Ratchet said, cocking his head in the direction he spoke of, "It wasn't just in here where they hit, and I figured that there were fewer large pieces for them to pick up."

It had been a very long series of days since the scraplet attack on the Autobot base. While the attack itself had left a sizable mark on everyone in the base, not many had thought about what had to happen after it was all over. That mainly being the clean up of everything.

"Save the Autobots and what do we get? Clean up duty." Miko huffed as she picked up another piece of chewed metal.

"Come on Miko, you know we aren't the only ones doing this. The bots are doing just as much if not more." Jack said, piling more pieces of scrap into his arms.

Behind them, a series of beeps and bleeps came from their yellow helper. While his speech was unknown to the two of them, their third member had little trouble with understanding just what he was trying to say.

"Heh, I don't think she would survive having it put down on her, Bee." Raf said, referring to the large pipe that his friend had picked up.

Miko looked back to see what the two were talking about, and sure enough, there was a large pipe in Bumblebee's hands. While the exact exchange of words was unknown to her, she had a pretty good idea about what the Autobot was getting at. So, with a huff, she got back to picking things up.

"Just like hosting a party. No one ever thinks about the clean up after it's over." Jack commented.

"Yeah, if that party involved being eaten alive." Miko said, bending down to pick up another piece, something catching her eye in the process.

Standing herself back up, she noticed one of the large roll-up doors that littered the halls of the base. While these things weren't uncommon at all around here, she didn't remember ever seeing this one before. And with the words "top secret" written on it, she was sure that she would have remembered it.

"Hey guys, check it out!" Miko shouted, getting the others attention and pointing out the door.

The other three looked up from what they were doing, looking to see what it was that Miko was talking about.

"Huh? I don't remember that door being there. Have we ever been this far back in the base before?" Jack asked Rafael.

"I haven't. Have you?" Raf asked Bumblebee, who simply shrugged his shoulders while making a confused noise.

"Let's check it out. Who knows what could be back there!" Miko said before Jack grabbed her arm.

"Miko wait! I'm pretty sure that says top secret for a reason. For all we know, there could be something dangerous in there." Jack argued.

"Oh come one, what could there possibly be in there? I don't think the Autobots would have something that could kill us." Miko said.

"Well, that's what we thought with the scraplet trap too." Jack said.

Bumblebee made a series of beeps and whistles at the two, but neither of them understood what he was getting at.

"He's saying that they've never been back there before either." Rafael explained, "They haven't had any use for it, so it's just been back there being unused."

"So we don't even have a clue what could be back there. It could be something left from others that used this place before. Maybe something radioactive or-"

Jack was cut off from his sentence when he heard the sound of the roller door being opened. Turning around, he saw Miko standing at the door control.

"Only one way to find out!" she shouted.

"She never listens. Never." Jack sighed, walking up to see what the fuss could possibly be.

The rolling door was incredibly slow to open, letting out audible strain as it twisted upward. It was pretty clear that whatever was in there had not been looked at in some time. Yet, judging from all the holes in the door itself, the scraplets had no doubt been in there.

Once the door had opened all the way, the four peeked their heads inside, coming face to face with… nothing.

"Hmm, should have guessed. With all the moaning those gears did, this place probably hasn't been opened in years." Jack said.

"Aw. I was hoping to find a new secret." Miko lightly whined.

"Cheer up, Miko. You did find something. A whole new place to clean." Jack said, smugly pointing out all the chewed up metal.

"Sooo funny, Jack. But I think I'll leave that up to you and Raf." Miko mocked.

"I say we put it to a vote. All in favor of me and Raf doing it?" Jack asked, to which Miko immediately raised her hand.

"And all in favor of Miko doing it?" Jack raised his own hand this time.

"Looks like we're at a deadlock." Miko teased.

"Oh yeah, because Raf is really going to… Raf?" Jack said, noticing that Rafael wasn't paying attention and seemed to be staring off into space.

"Raf? Anybody home?" Miko asked, snapping her fingers in front of him to get him back to reality.

"Huh? Oh sorry guys, I was looking at something on the wall." Rafael said, pointing at where he had been looking.

The other two looked to where Rafael was pointing, not really seeing what it was that he was trying to point out. It just looked like a chewed up metal wall to them. They knelt down to get on the same level as him and still saw nothing. Tilting their heads at weird angles didn't yield any results either.

"Uh… What exactly are you seeing?" Jack asked.

Miko took Rafael's glasses off, trying to look through them. Only to have them immediately snatched away from her.

"What? I thought maybe they would reveal something we couldn't see." Miko said.

"Guys, I'm telling you, there's something there." Rafael asserted.

Stepping into the room, he came up close to the chewed up metal wall, trying to look through the small holes that had been chewed into it. There was definitely something there, but he just wasn't sure what.

Curious about what it could possibly be, Bumblebee came up behind him and knelt down to look himself. Though, much like Jack and Miko, he was having difficulty seeing anything.

A thought then went through Rafael's head, and he reached out to grab a piece of the wall. With a short tug, he managed to yank off a piece relatively easily. While it wasn't very big, there was now a hole in the wall that showed exactly what it was that he was talking about.

Miko and Jack, now in full belief with what they were seeing, came up to look at what Rafael was talking about. Looking to the hole, they could see that there was a hollow spot in the wall. Not only that, but it looked like more than just a cave or typical wear. It looked like there was a full room back there.

"Woah. What do you think is back there?" Jack asked.

"Only one way to find out." Miko said, getting to work with tearing away part of the way.

While Jack was hesitant at first, he was now truly curious as to what might be hiding back there. So, shrugging his shoulders, he started to help the other two with digging out the wall.

While this was happening, Bee was unsure of what to do. While he did have his own curiosities about what was back there, he wasn't sure about how the other Autobots would react to this. They were digging into part of their base, and they didn't even know what was back there.

Meanwhile, the three were having a difficult time with the wall. Even with all of them working at it, they were hardly making a dent. At the rate that they were going, it was going to take all day to get through.

That is until Miko pulled a rather precariously placed piece away.

After she pulled it from the wall, there were several noises that came from it. All three of them looked up just in time to see the thing collapse and start falling right on top of them.

While they did all let out a yell of fear, they were thankfully safe. Bumblebee managed to use his own body to shield the three from the falling debris. Looking up, the three gave grateful smiles to the scout.

"Thanks, Bee." Jack said.

"What's going on back there?!" the four heard Ratchet yell.

Acting quickly, Bumblebee got up from the kids and went to the door. There was a long series of beeps that he gave as an explanation to Ratchet, but one that was not at all honest as to what had happened.

"Be more careful. We don't need another incident." Ratchet told him.

Letting out sighs, everyone turned back to the giant hole that was now in the wall. Rafael had been correct in what he said, as there was something behind that wall. It was a room that looked as though it had been purposefully built into that place, yet was cut off by the wall.

"Geez, what do you think this place was?" Jack asked anyone.

"Maybe it's a panic room." Miko suggested.

"No, it's too small. Besides, there's no air system or power." Rafael said.

"Wait… is that what you were seeing Raf?" Jack asked, pointing at something on the ground.

The other two looked down, noticing the strange thing that Jack was pointing at. They hadn't really seen anything like it before. It was round and white. Almost like the upper half of a pedestal. Except it was much bigger than any they had ever seen.

"Woah. What is that, a missile launch pad?" Miko asked.

"Maybe it's an escape hatch." Jack suggested.

"I don't know. It's too small to be for missiles, and I've never seen an escape hatch that looks like that. Then again, I've also never seen giant robots before we got here either." Rafael said, stepping close to the strange object.

"Raf, are you sure it's a good idea to-" Jack began, but was soon interrupted by Miko.

"Oh come on, Jack. What do you honestly think will happen just by touching the thing." Miko said.

Rafael was now standing directly over the strange looking object. He looked the thing over several times, trying to see if there were any handles, buttons, or switches of some kind, but there was nothing.

So, with nothing else to go off of, he reached his hand out to touch the thing. When he was a mere inch above its surface, he hesitated for just a moment. Yet that moment didn't last long, and he placed his hand on the surface of the strange thing.

Its response was immediate.

The instant that his hand touched the surface, it lit up like lightning on a moonless night. Seeing this, Rafael immediately pulled his hand away and stumbled backward. Bumping into the other two, they all fell to the ground after seeing the blinding light.

Once they were able to reorient themselves, they all craned their heads up to look, shielding their eyes. They didn't have to do this for long, as the light died almost as soon as they had attempted to set their eyes on it again.

After getting their eye readjusted, the three looked back at the pad, noticing that it still had a faint glow going through it.

"What just happened?" Miko asked, getting herself and Rafael back on their feet.

"I don't know, but whatever this thing used to be, it looks like we turned it back on." Jack said, unaware of what they had really just done.

* * *

Far away from where things had been happening with the Autobots, there was another, less stressful situation happening on a different part of the country. While the Autobots had thought they were the sole protectors of the planet, there was another group that was working in the shadows for a different cause.

Down in a little place known a Beach City, Steven, and the Gems had been having a relatively average day. There hadn't really been that much commotion going on, so they were more than content to have an easy day.

That is until the warp pad suddenly lit up.

It had been a very long time since any of them had seen something like that. Steven and Amethyst had never seen it before, but Pearl and Garnet were at least somewhat aware of what was going on.

"What was that?" Steven asked.

"It's a sign that a new warp pad has been activated somewhere on this planet." Garnet explained.

"How can that be? We've had nearly all of them activated since we've been here, and the ones that aren't are well hidden." Pearl said.

"Maybe someone found one and decided to turn it back on." Amethyst suggested.

"That's impossible. Their all either buried or in places that organic life can't get to." Pearl argued.

"That doesn't mean that one can't be found." Amethyst said.

"That's true, but I doubt that anything will be coming through. We don't know where the signal is coming from, and I doubt that whatever it is that turned it on knows how to use it." Garnet said.

"True, but I can't help but wonder where this could have turned on at." Pearl said.

"Well, there's only one real way to know." Steven said, marching up to the pad and standing on it.

"Steven, not only is that dangerous but also nearly impossible. We don't know where it activated. For all we know it could be a dysfunctional warp pad as well. If we go there, there's no guaranteeing that we can get back." Pearl said.

"Aw come on, Pearl. Nothing ventured, nothing-" Steven said, being cut off when he was very suddenly teleported away.

The other three simply stood there in shock, too horrified to say anything at first.

"Un oh." Amethyst said, breaking the silence.

* * *

Back at the Autobot base, Bumblebee and the kids were trying to figure out what it was that they had discovered. While it was obviously something that no one was aware of up until this point, the bigger matter was whether or not it was dangerous.

"Man, can you believe this? We found something hiding right under the bots noses." Miko said.

"Yeah, that's great Miko, but I have a few bigger concerns right now. Namely, if that thing is safe or not. Raf, do you feel anything wrong? Anything at all?" Jack asked the youngest member of the group.

"No, I-I feel alright, but I think we should tell this to the other before something else happens." Rafael said.

Bumblebee agreed with their sentiment, gesturing to the door with a series of beeps.

"-Gained." a voice said behind the group.

The four froze when they heard that, eyes going wide in the process. After the one word, the voice seemed to only produce confused grunts. Slowly turning around, they figured out very quickly why that was.

There, standing on that pad in the base, was what looked like a young boy who couldn't have been much older than Rafael.

While the four were certainly surprised to see this, the boy looked just as confused as him. However, Jack was able to regain enough of his composure to turn around and gesture for Bee to hide.

Pulling himself out of the daze from what he was seeing, Bumblebee's optics looked down to Jack, who was motioning for him to hide away from their unexpected visitor. Darting his head around a few times, Bee finally settled on hiding himself outside of the room.

Unfortunately, his heavy footsteps got the attention of Steven, who turned to finally come face to face with the other kids. While the expressions on their faces were outlandishly surprised, Steven wasn't bothered by this. He knew that if anyone saw something like this, the most understandable reaction we be the one that he was seeing.

All the same, he himself put on the friendliest smile that he could. Hopping down from the warp pad, he approached the three and extended his hand out in a polite way to the tallest of the three.

"Hi, I'm Steven." he said to the boy.

For a moment, Jack was too dumbfounded to do anything other than stare at him. While he knew that was rude, he could hardly believe what he was seeing. Nevertheless, he knew he had to say something before it got even more awkward than it already was.

"Uh… I'm Jack. These other two are Miko and Rafael." he said, slowly reaching out to take the boy's hand and shake it.

"Hi, nice to meet all of you." Steven said, still holding his friendly smile.

"... Likewise." Miko said.

"Yeah, you too." Rafael said, out of his daze.

"Uh, I'm really sorry to bother you guys, but do you happen to know where I am?" Steven asked.

"Um… Well, you're on the planet Earth." Jack said.

"Oh, I know that I was just wondering where specifically." Steven said.

"Oh… uh… that's gonna be kind of complicated." Miko said.

"Yeah, we kind of can't tell you that." Rafael explained.

"Why not?" Steven asked.

"Look, we're really sorry that we can't explain, but believe me when I say that there is a good reason that we can't." Jack said, trying to push Steven back to the warp pad.

"Yeah, seriously. Sorry about this, but you do need to get out of here." Miko added, giving Jack a hand.

"We could get in a lot of trouble if anyone found out that you're here." Raf said, helping the other two.

Steven didn't really fight back, letting himself be slid across the floor. While these people didn't seem rude, he could tell that they were flustered. Where he wound up was still a mystery, but it must have been a pretty important place for them to immediately want him gone.

Once they got to the warp pad, the group got up on it and Steven turned back to them with a quizzical face.

"As I said, we're really, really sorry that we seem to be being pushy, but we do have a good reason. If this were any other situation, we could talk things out." Jack explained.

Bumblebee had been growing curious as to what was happening in there. The exchange of words sounded civil enough, but the fact that there was, what he assumed to be, another human in the base was going to cause some serious problems if the others found out about this. They needed to get him out of there _fast._

Peeking his head into the room, he was thankful to see that they were doing just that. How this human got in there to start with was something they were going to have to discuss later, but for now, he would take letting them handle this.

"Uh, how exactly did you get here anyway?" Rafael asked.

"Well, I just... Hey, what's-" Steven said, being cut off once more.

The warp pad must have activated once again because it didn't just take Steven this time. It took all of the kids with him as well.

Bumblebee's optics went wide, almost not able to believe what he saw. Running into the room, he knelt down to the warp pad, looking to see what happened. There was no sign of any of the kids. Placing his hand over it a few times, he thought that he might be able to reactivate the thing and bring them back somehow, but to no avail.

Finally letting what just happened sink in, Bumblebee let out a short series of beeps that almost sounded like the words "Uh-oh."

* * *

"-That?" Steven asked the three, just in time for the teleporter to activate.

"What's- What!?" Jack exclaimed, realizing that they weren't in the same place anymore.

Looking around, the three saw that the place they were now in was much different from where they just were. Rather than some sort of abandon building or government facility, it looked like they were now inside of an ordinary house.

"Alright, we'll split up and cover all areas in one general location. Odds are he didn't get far away from the warp pad itself." the group heard a voice say.

Looking over, the four saw a group of what looked like women, all huddled around a kitchen countertop. While what they were doing was hard to make out, what was clear was that they were doing in frantically. Though what they were all hunched over seemed like a map, so maybe they were getting ready to go somewhere.

"Alright, I'll go here. Amethyst, you head to the south, and Garnet will go to the east. If we don't find him there, we'll all meet up in the west region and go from there. I just hope that he's-" Pearl said in a panicked tone, being interrupted.

"Hey, guys!" Steven greeted them, causing them all to look up from the map.

"Oh thank goodness!" Pearl said, running up to Steven and hugging him. "Don't ever do that again, you scared the daylight out of us."

"Speak for yourself P, I knew he was alright." Amethyst said.

"Guys, we've got company." Garnet told the other two.

While Amethyst was able to see what Garnet meant immediately, Pearl had to pull herself away from Steven to see for herself. While she had at first been expecting to see a corrupted gem or something along those lines, what she saw instead was arguably more unsettling.

There, in their home, were three humans.

For a short while, the group could do little more than stare at each other. While the gems were somewhat concerned about having strangers around, the kids knew that they were in a far more compromised position. They had no idea where they were, or if these people were dangerous.

Yet, in that same regard, Jack knew that someone had to break the ice. If they didn't, this would not only get more awkward than it already was, but it could also lead to some big problems with these people.

"Um… H-Hi there ma'am. I'm Jack." he said, carefully extending his hand out to Pearl in as non-threatening of a way that he could.

Pearl stood up, eyeing the boy that had just introduced himself with suspicion. She didn't usually put too much trust into humans, and it was even less often that they came in here. Yet he was being friendly, so she figured that she should do the same.

Slowly extending her hand out, she never took her eyes off of him. When their hands finally connected, Pearl's handshake was stiff and the untrust could be felt between the two.

"Pearl." she responded simply.

While the handshake was highly uncomfortable between the two, it didn't last any longer than it needed to. Yet, not but a moment after the two disconnect their handshake, Amethyst thought it would be a good idea to introduce herself. She came right up next to Pearl and took Jack's hand before he could drop it.

"Nice to meetcha, Jack. I'm Amethyst, and that's Garnet over there." Amethyst said, pointing to Garnet and heavily shaking Jack's hand.

After Jack was finished being jerked around by the shorter woman, he let go of her hand and looked to the other woman that had been mentioned. She was easily the tallest out of the group, but he was having a hard time getting a read on what was going through her head. While he wasn't one hundred percent certain on it, he had a feeling that is was something to do with her glasses. He couldn't see her eyes at all.

"Thank's." Jack said, rubbing his arm, "Anyway this is-"

"I'm Miko!" she said, coming up to shake hands in a similarly over enthused manner.

"I'm Rafael, but you can just call me Raf." he said, waving at the new people.

"It's nice to meet you all, but I'm afraid we have two important things to worry about. The first one being how you got here, and the second being _what_ you're doing here?" Garnet inquired

"I think the first one is pretty obvious." Miko responded, pointing at the warp pad.

"She's got a point, G." Amethyst said.

"Yes, I feel that is rather obvious, but on to the matter of bigger concern. What are you doing here?" Pearl asked.

"Yeah, sorry about that. We had no idea what was going on with that thing we found, and when Steven appeared out of nowhere, we weren't really sure what to do. So we tried to get him to go back and… I guess we just ended up going with him." Jack said.

"I see. Well, if that is the case, I think it would probably be best if we sent you on your way. Where exactly is it that you were?" Pearl asked.

While Jack was in agreement that they should get headed back to where they were, he also knew that it wasn't going to be as simple as that. The fact that one of them had already seen the base was bad enough, but they couldn't take more back and risk the secret getting out to more people.

Jack stammered for a moment, trying to think of something. Fortunately, Steven took care of it.

"Oh come on, guys. They just got here. Can't I at least show them around a little bit?" Steven asked.

"Steven that's very nice of you, but I don't think that-" Pearl tried to stop them, but Jack was quick to step in.

"Hey, you know, that would be great! None of us have ever really seen the outside of our own town, and seeing a new place might be cool." Jack said.

"Sweet! I chance to see somewhere new. This is gonna be awesome!" Miko said, gleefully.

"Uh Jack, are you sure about this?" Rafael asked.

"Oh come on, Raf." Jack said, taking out his phone to type out a text, "We'll only stay for a little while, and then get headed. It won't take that long."

Rafael suddenly felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Pulling it out, he checked to see that he got a text from Jack.

" _We can't let them know about the base!"_

"Oh… uh, alright then. I guess that couldn't hurt." Rafael said, tucking his phone away.

'Great! Come on, I'll show you around!" Steven said, heading for the door.

"Hold up there, guy. I'm headed with you." Amethyst said, following close behind him.

While the kids and Amethyst all headed out the door, Pearl and Garnet were left there simply staring blankly. They were not at all sure about what had just happened, but they were sure that things had just taken a turn for the strange.

"What was all of that?" Pearl asked Garnet.

"I'm not entirely sure, but there was something about the way they acted that seemed… off." Garnet said.

"No question about that. You'd think they would be sufficiently freaked out enough to just want to go back to where ever it was they came from." Pearl said.

"That's the reaction I was expecting as well. Something about all of this just… Wait, there's something else now." Garnet said.

"What do you mean something else?" Pearl said.

"I feel that… something's heading this way." Garnet said in an ominous tone.

* * *

"What do you mean they just vanished?" Arcee asked, her tone impatient and angered.

Bee tried giving her an explanation, but it wasn't much different from what he told them before. Frankly, even after witnessing it for himself, he still wasn't sure that he believed it.

"Kid, you really aren't making sense. People don't just appear and disappear. Even if they bridged out, there would have been some indication of them coming or going." Bulkhead said.

Bee held to what he said, not holding back any of the detail about what he saw. A kid had just appeared where that strange device had been discovered and, after stepping on it themselves, the others disappeared with him.

"Whatever this device may be, I highly doubt that it is human technology. The only likely option is that it was either early Cybertronian technology or something else altogether." Ratchet said.

"All of that matters little now. The only thing that matters at the moment is finding them and bringing them back safe." Optimus said.

"How are we going to do that?" Bulkhead asked.

"Ratchet, do you think that you may be able to tap into this device and figure out their coordinates?" Optimus asked.

"I suppose that it wouldn't be completely outside the realm of possibility. As long as I am able to get into the inner mechanics of it, I may-" Ratchet said, being interrupted by the monitor.

"Who could be calling right now?" Bulkhead asked.

Looking at the monitor, Ratchet opened the receiving end of the line to see who it was that was calling them. Once the call was identified, Jack's face popped up on the monitor.

"It's jack." Ratchet said, immediately opening the call.

"Ratchet, are you there?" Jack asked.

"Jack, where are you?" Arcee asked.

"Shh! I don't know yet, but don't worry, we're safe." Jack assured them.

"What happened? Are the others with you?" Bulkhead asked.

"Yeah, the others are here with me, but there are too many people around for me to go into detail. We're still on earth, and I'm trying to figure out where we are. As soon as I can get some space where we can be away from crowds, I'll call you back so you can bridge us back." Jack said.

"Do what you must, Jack, but do not leave us waiting for too long. If you don't call back within the hour, we will search for you." Optimus said.

"Understood." Jack said, hanging up.

"Well, at least we know they're still alive." Ratchet said.

"And out of danger for the most part." Bulkhead added.

"I'm still holding you accountable for this." Arcee told Bumblebee. Who simply let out a surprised noise.

* * *

High above the earth's atmosphere, another problem was occurring. While Starscream had long wanted to be in charge of the Decepticons, things had taken a turn for the tedious after they found Megatron. Even after ensuring that he wouldn't wake up, Starscream was unsure of the future of his reign with his old master's body still being around.

All the same, he still had a ship to run. So when Soundwave came up behind him, he truly hoped that it was important.

"What is it Soundwave?" He asked.

In response, Soundwave brought up an image on his visor, showing the commander what it was that he discovered. Coming closer, Starscream looked at the strange object moving through space.

"Hmm, what do we have here?" Starscream asked.

Zooming in on the image, Soundwave sharpened things up and presented a mock-up of what the object would look like up close.

"I've never seen a meteor like this before. It appears to be radiating some form of energy. Perhaps a large piece of energon?" Starscream wondered.

Soundwave didn't make any motions, as he himself was unsure of what this large mass could possibly be. In any case, he knew that Starscream would make a decision on what to do about it.

"If this is indeed an energy source, we must not waste an opportunity that is presented to us. Have the troops ready the energy tethers. We'll find out just what it is we're dealing with." Starscream ordered.

In no time at all, the Nemesis was just on the outer edge of the meteor-like object. Now that they were closer, it became evident that, whatever this thing was, it was more than simple rock. Not to mention, the color of it was giving Starscream an idea of what it _could_ be.

"Look at it. Oh, a simple meteor you are not. Do you realize what this could be, Soundwave? If this mass is nothing but red energon, it could give us just the advantage we need over the Autobots. Activate the tethers!"

On his command, the vehicons turned on three large devices that acted like ropes that attached themselves to the large mass. Once it seemed secure, the Nemesis began pulling the thing to a more suitable area for proper testing.

"A nearly limitless supply of red energon. The Autobots won't stand a chance." Starscream said before a series of alarms went off.

"What's going on out there?" Starscream demanded.

"Sir, we must have drifted too close to Earth. Whatever this is is starting to be pulled in by the planet's gravitational pull." one of the cons said.

"Route power to our thrusters! Do not lose it!" Starscream shouted.

The vehicons did as they were told and got to work with trying to save their find. While the Nemesis was a powerful ship, there was only so much that could be done about an object that was almost twice the size of their ship.

For several minutes, the ship strained against the pull of the large mass that was trying to pull its way down to the planet. While the crew put up a decent fight, eventually the tethers could take no more of it. They gave way, being pulled off of the ship, causing the red sphere to start plummeting to earth.

Seeing this, Starscream let out a grunt of anger.

"Fools!... No matter. Wherever this may land, we will be sure to be there first. Regardless of where it ends up."


	2. Chapter 2

It had been an interesting day for the three from Jasper. In addition to being teleported to a new place, they were now exploring a place that none of them had ever been before. It was like an impromptu field trip that none of them had asked for.

"So that wasn't really a robot that I saw?" Steven asked the three.

"Well yes and no. It was a robot, but not a real robot." Jack explained.

"It was an animatronic, dude. It looked like a robot, but it's remote controlled. We use stuff like that all the time in Japan." Miko said.

While the three had been enjoying the tour through the city, there were several things that were still worrying them. The biggest one being how they were going to get back without drawing any unnecessary attention, and doing it without these people figuring out what it was they were desperately trying to hide.

"Why do you need one of those?" Steven asked.

Not ready for the question, Miko froze and immediately turned to Jack, making it out to seem like she was about to ask him a question. While there was no actual question asked, it was clear to Jack just by the look on her face that she was looking for some back up on what to say next.

Jack was stumped at first, but he knew he had to think of something. Rapidly his mind began to weave a story that could get them out of this.

"Uh… Look, we're not supposed to tell anyone this but, since you already know about some of it, I guess we can trust you with a little more info. It's for a movie. Miko and I are auditioning to be extras, and Raf is working with the special effects crew." Jack lied.

The other two just simply nodded and smiled, silently hoping that the story would be believed. Even if it wasn't the most believable thing they could have come up with, it was far better than anything _they_ would have thought of.

"Woah! A movie about giant robots? That sounds amazing!" Steven said, fully believing it.

While the three were about to relax, Amethyst was not so convinced.

"Hold on there. If this movie has giant robots in it, why are you guys trying to audition in it? You don't seem like the type to voice those kinds of characters." Amethyst said.

"Oh, we're just applying for background characters. You know, people who just walk by or have nothing to do with the plot. The focus is going to be on the robots, not us." Miko explained.

"Oh, ok. I was gonna say, if they make a movie that has giant robots and it focuses on humans, that would be such a waste." Amethyst said.

"No kidding. Whoever does something like that should be thrown into a Bay of sharks." Miko commented.

While Miko had immediately switched back to her usual self, both Rafael and Jack couldn't help but sigh internally. They were skating on thin ice just being here, and they didn't want to have any more reason to have where they were from or what they were doing come into question again.

They were likely already going to get an earful when they got back, but they didn't want to add to the problem by giving away any more information than necessary. They needed to figure out a way to get out of there discreetly, and sooner rather than later.

* * *

"Soundwave, what is the projected course of this… thing?" Starscream asked.

High above the planet, the Decepticons were trying to figure out what they were going to do with their find. After losing it to the pull of gravity, there was no chance for them to attempt and pull it back. So they were left with little other option but to wait and see where it went.

Soundwave showed a calculated path on his visor, giving the projected point of impact.

"Hmm, it would seem that our little find is on a crash course far away from where the Autobots have been operating. With any luck, it may go unnoticed by them entirely." Starscream said.

Bringing up a closer view of the impact point, Starscream saw that the place it was headed was near a vast body of water. As well as what looked like a human town.

"It would also appear that we will get to have a little show beforehand." Starscream said, grinning maliciously.

* * *

Meanwhile, Steven and Amethyst had decided to end their tour of Beach City by taking their guests somewhere to get some food. Unfortunately for the group, it seemed that they had chosen things a little too late.

"Hey, Fryman, give me the bits!" Steven called out to the man.

"Steven! We're closed." Fryman said, flipping the sign of his business.

"Aww, what?" Steven complained.

While the other three didn't mind that much, this did not sit well with Amethyst.

"Give 'em the bits!" Amethyst said, hitting the counter while beginning to chant.

"The bits, the bits, the bits!" Steven and Amethyst chanted at the man.

"The bits, the bits, the bits!" Miko joined in, putting further abuse to the countertop.

"Okay, okay! Take it easy on the counter, will ya?" Fryman conceded, going to make what they asked.

"Yes!" the three shouted, passing high fives to each other.

Miko turned back to the rest of her party, noticing an embarrassed look from Rafael and a look of pure annoyance from Jack.

"What?" Miko asked.

"Let's just say I know how he feels." Jack said.

Having been working in food service for the past year, Jack had first-hand experience dealing with many customers like that before. Everything from people trying to come in after closing, all the way up to ones demanding discounts for insane reasons.

It wasn't long before Fryman got back, handing the bits over to Steven.

"I can give you actual fries if you want." Fryman said.

"Just the bits, please." Steven said, taking the bag from the man.

With the bits in hand, Steven began to slowly meander away, Amethyst in tow while grabbing a handful of the fry bits for herself. Steven offered the bag to Miko and Rafael, who both took some for themselves.

Jack, on the other hand, felt obligated to apologize for the others actions.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about that. I know what it's like to work with pushy customers." Jack said.

"Don't sweat it, kid, it's just part of the job." Fryman said.

"Isn't that the truth." Jack agreed.

"You know I don't think I've seen you around here before. What'd you say your name was?" Fryman asked.

"It's Jack, though you probably won't need to remember that. We're just here for the day." Jack said.

"Well, if that is the case, enjoy your time here." Fryman said, finally closing up shop.

Giving a nod, Jack turned to go and join the rest of his group. While it may have just been a passing comment, Jack did take what Fryman said to heart. While his time with the Autobots had definitely not been boring, it was nice to see a different part of the world without the constant threat of the Decepticons looming over their heads.

Finally catching up to the group, Jack walked up next to Raf, who seemed to have saved him some of the bits.

"Ah, sunset, my favorite time of day. When the sun goes down, and the second sun gets bigger and bigger in the sky." Steven said.

"Second sun?" Rafael said, looking to the object in question.

"Yeah, that big hot second su-" Amethyst said, laughing. Only to immediately stop upon realization of what it actually was.

"Okay, for real, what is that?" Miko asked.

"Oh no, what is that doing here?" Amethyst said, worriedly.

"What is it?" Steven asked, only to be picked up by Amethyst and carried away. "Ah, my bits!"

Looking on confusedly, the other three looked to each other before running after the two. It was clear that something was up and, whatever it was, was likely not anything good.

* * *

"This is bad." Garnet said.

"Look at the size of it, I had no idea these things were so big!" Pearl said, gazing through a telescope.

"Garnet! Pearl!" Amethyst shouted, running up with Steven raised over her head.

"We saw. Some of us are trying to protect humanity. Where were you?" Pearl huffed, angrily.

"Eating fry bits." Amethyst said, nonchalantly setting Steven down.

"Where are the other three?" Garnet asked.

Garnet got her answer when Jack, Miko, and Rafael all ran up close behind, huffing and nearly out of breath.

"What is going on?" Jack asked.

"Oh, can I see?" Steven asked, seemingly ignoring Jack.

Walking up to the telescope that Pearl had been using, he got an up-close look at what it was they were dealing with. While he still wasn't entirely sure what it was, he had a good idea of what it looked like now.

"Woah. It's a giant eyeball! Awesome!" Steven said.

"NOT awesome! It's a Red Eye!" Pearl said, angrily.

"A Red Eye?! It's going to infect us all!" Steven said in a panic.

"That's pink eye, Steven." Amethyst said, laughing.

"Yeah, red eye is when you look directly into a camera." Miko said.

"Something tells me a camera didn't make that." Rafael said.

"It's going to crash into Beach City and crush us, along with a bunch of oblivious, innocent people! We have to stop it." Pearl said.

"What are we going to do?" Steven asked.

While the other three didn't really understand what was being said, then knew well enough that there was imminent danger approaching. Not just for themselves, but for every human that inhabited this city. The circumstances had changed drastically.

While Steven and the Gems were having a conversation of their own, the other three huddled together to keep them from hearing what they were saying.

"Guys, what do you think we should we do?" Rafael asked.

"That's a question? We obviously have to help them." Miko said.

"Miko, I want to do that too, but do you think that the bots will be okay with something like that?" Jack asked.

"Considering that this involves a lot of human lives, I'd say they would." she argued.

"Yeah, but this doesn't involve cons. Even if it did, they wouldn't want to expose themselves to anymore humans than they already have." Jack said.

"For all we know, this could involve cons. In any case, I don't think it could hurt to try." Rafael said.

Jack looked to Miko, who seemed to agree with Raf. It wasn't that Jack didn't want to call the Autobots, but he wasn't entirely sure about the circumstances they were in. Yes, they were in danger, along with many more, but would they compromise their cover for something like this?

"Only one way to know, I guess." Jack said, agreeing with them.

Getting out of their huddle, Jack and the other two turned to speak with them, just in time to see Garnet toss Amethyst directly at the Red Eye. Upon impact, she simply fell off the thing and landed in the ocean below.

The three were beginning to think that Steven's guardians were not human, much like their own. But that was something that they could worry about later.

"Hey guys, I think I might have a solution to this." Jack said.

"I highly doubt that you have something that could handle that." Pearl said.

"Don't be so sure. Sometimes there's more to things than meets the eyes." Jack said.

* * *

It had been some time since the members of team Prime had heard from any of the kids. While Jack's message about them being safe did alleviate some of the stress, they still had no idea where they were.

"Optimus, it has been too long since Jack last called us. We need to start looking for them." Arcee said.

Not but a second after she said that, their monitor sprung to life, letting out a tone that indicated another call.

"Speak of the devil." Bulkhead said, watching Ratchet open the call.

"Jack? What's going on?" Ratchet asked.

"Ratchet, things have gotten ugly out here." Jack said.

"Jack, what's happening?" Arcee asked.

"We're all safe at the moment, but that is going to change very soon. Not just for us, but for everyone in this city that we're in." Jack told them.

"Woah, hold on there kid. What are you talking about?" Bulkhead asked.

"Look, I don't know what exactly it is that's coming, but I do know that it's big enough to take out not only us but this entire place we're in." Jack said.

"Jack, if what you're saying is true, then we must act quickly." Optimus said.

"There's something else you should know. There are likely going to be four new people who know about you because of this." Jack warned.

"What? Jack, that is out of the question. You must go somewhere away from populated areas." Ratchet said.

"Ratchet, if this is truly a threat to dozens, if not hundreds of lives, then I think that we can stand to break protocol this once. Jack, send us your coordinates." Optimus said, his faceplate extending out.

* * *

"Got it. Raf, you think you can give Ratchet a hand?" Jack asked.

Rafael simply nodded his, taking Jack's phone from him.

With his part of the conversation over, Jack knew that there was a lot of explaining he was going to have to do. So he turned back and readied himself for the barrage of questions that were likely about to happen.

"Who was that you were talking to?" Pearl asked.

"Believe me, I think all of your questions are about to be answered all at once." Jack said.

"What's that supposed to-" Pearl began but was interrupted when she heard a noise from the beach.

Amethyst had climbed back up on shore just in time to see what Pearl had heard. It looked some sort of glowing, green portal. While that was something to see on its own, what came from the portal was what really got her attention.

From the portal, four large bodies emerged. Larger than even some of the corrupted gems that they had seen before. What was stranger still, was the fact that, whatever these things were, they were definitely not of this planet.

As the Autobots stepped through, they readied themselves for anything. While all of them had dealt with many things in just a short period of time alone, Jack had made it sound like something pretty severe.

"Optimus Prime!?" Pearl said, astounded.

Hearing his name be said by an unfamiliar voice, Optimus turned to see who it was. When he finally set his optics on her, he was just as equally surprised, as the voice turned out to be not as unfamiliar as he originally thought.

"This is something I hadn't expected. I didn't realize you would be here." Optimus said.

Pearl was completely flabbergasted by what she was seeing. While their meeting all those years ago had been very brief, she could never forget him. Rose had been the only one dealing with them directly, but she happened upon them once and they hadn't seen each other since then.

Turning to Jack, she took him by the shirt and pulled him close to her face.

"You never said that you knew Optimus Prime!" Pearl shouted.

"Neither did you." Jack said, pulling himself out of her grasp.

"You know him?" Garnet asked Pearl.

"You know her?" Arcee asked Optimus.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. It was a very long time ago, and I intended to bring it up only when necessary." Optimus said.

"Wait! So this means that there isn't a movie being made about giant robots?" Steven asked.

"No." Rafael answered.

"Aww!' Steven whined.

"Woah, real giant robots! I'm Amethyst, what's your name?" she asked one of them, running up to the rest of the group.

"Bulkhead." he answered.

"I didn't know there were alien robots on the planet! How do you guys know Peal? How long have you been here? What are you guys-" Amethyst questioned, before being interrupted.

"Uh guys, while this is all really something that needs to get sorted out, I think we should do it after we deal with the problem we have." Jack said.

"He's right." Garnet said, picking Amethyst up once more to throw her at the eye.

While the Autobots were rather shocked to see this at first, their gaze did follow Amethyst to where she was thrown, and they finally saw just what it was they were dealing with.

Bumblebee let out a series of beeps to convey his thoughts on things.

"I suppose that's one way of putting it." Arcee said.

"What did he say?" Steven asked Rafael.

"He said something about that being the second biggest thing he's ever seen come crashing toward a planet." Raf told him.

"Optimus, you think this has something to do with Decepticons?" Bulkhead asked.

"While I doubt it, it is neither outside the realm of possibility or entirely relevant at the moment. Whatever its origin is, it must be destroyed." Optimus said, switching his left arm to his blaster.

Pointing his arm skyward, Optimus took aim at the red-eye. Once his shot was lined up, he fired off one blast. While it took a moment for it to impact, the results were instant. It had no effect on the red-eye and simply burst once it hit.

All of the Autobots were floored by the outcome, expecting the red-eye to have some sort of reaction. In response, Optimus got out his other blaster and shot off two more shots, but it had the same effect as before.

"Autobots, concentrate your fire!" Optimus ordered.

All four of the Autobots got their blasters ready, taking aim at the red-eye. They fired off a long series of shots. While it was an impressive volley to behold, all of the shots were having more or less the same effect as the ones before it.

"Scrap, this isn't working." Arcee said.

"Ugh, I'm gonna go." Steven said.

"What? Where are you going?" Jack asked.

"I think I might have something that can work against this." Steven told him.

"Really? Why didn't you say so?" Miko asked.

"We did. You guys were just busy." Steven said.

"If you have the means to stop this, please hurry. We will remain here and continue our efforts." Optimus said.

"We'll go with you in case you need a hand." Rafael said.

Bumblebee let out a series of beeps to Rafael, telling him to be careful.

"You too Jack." Arcee said.

"Always." Jack said.

"Miko, we're gonna need to talk after all of this is over." Bulk said in a tone that sounded like an irritated father.

"Oh come on, Bulk." Miko complained.

Jack motioned for them to get going. The three followed behind Steven, as he was the only one who knew where they were going.

"... Okay, good luck." Pearl said, half-heartedly.

* * *

It was a bit of a hike from where they were to the car wash that Steven led them to, but they hurried as quickly as they could. The entire time that they ran, they could hear the Autobots continuously firing at the red-eye to no avail.

When they finally did arrive, it looked like the place was all but empty. Except for one van parked out front which, judging by the style painted on it, hadn't left the eighties.

"What are we doing here? I thought you said you had something that could stop this." Jack said.

"I might, but my dad is the one who will have it." Steven told him.

"Does he work here or something?" Rafael asked.

"Yeah… as well as live here." Steven said.

The three just looked at him, puzzled by what he said. They had assumed that his father would be living with him, but they also knew that not all couples stayed together. Whatever the situation was, it wasn't their business. Not to mention, they had bigger things to worry about.

Steven approached the van, banging on it to try and get his dad's attention. When yelling for him didn't seem to be working, he attempted to climb up on the van, but tripped and accidentally set off the alarm.

"Who's there? I have a waffle iron!" Greg shouted, bursting from his van.

In response to this, the other three slowly backed away, not wanting to get any collateral damage. Though, now that they could see him, there was no denying that this was Steven's dad. The two looked quite a bit alike. Not to mention, if there was a poster boy for middle-aged dads, he'd likely be a candidate.

"Dad, it's me!" Steven called from the top of the van.

"Steven?" Greg said, looking up just in time for him to climb down and give him a hug.

"I almost waffled your face! What are you doing up so late?" Greg asked.

"The sun didn't set more than an hour ago." Rafael said.

"Oh, heh. It was a... slow day at the carwash. Uh… I don't think I've seen you guys before." Greg said, turning to the three.

"Dad, these are some people I just met. This Jack, Miko, and Raf." Steven said, introducing them.

"Hello, sir." Jack said, extending his hand out

"It's nice to meet you, sir." Rafael said, doing the same as Jack.

"Likewise." Greg said, shaking the two boys hands.

"Wait… you're Greg Universe? As in _the_ Greg Universe?" Miko asked, starstruck.

"Uh… the one and only?" Greg said, unsure of how to react.

"Oh my god! Steven, you never told us your dad was one of the biggest underground rock artists out there!" Miko shouted.

"I didn't know that he _was_ one of those." Steven said, not sure what Miko was talking about.

"Mr. Universe, I am a huge fan! I've heard all of your tracks, and-" Miko said, losing herself in the moment.

"Miko, fan girl later! We have bigger issues right now." Jack said, cutting her off.

"That's right. Dad, I need the light cannon that belonged to Mom, to blow up that eyeball!" Steven said.

"Eyeball?" Greg asked, pulling himself back to earth after meeting his first fan in a long time.

All of them directed Greg to the sky, pointing to the ever growing eye that was slowly getting closer. The Autobots were still trying to shoot it, but they stopped briefly when Amethyst went flying at the thing again.

"Wait, is that a magical thing? The Gems told me not to get involved with magic stuff. It... it could be dangerous or interfere with what's left of my hair." Greg said, rubbing his head.

"But they need Mom's cannon. You've gotta know where it is, like a cave dungeon or a cloud fortress, or in a clam at the bottom of the ocean!" Steven said.

"Well, I don't know about all that. But I have an idea where it might be." Greg told them.

* * *

Moments later, the five were outside of a place called U-store.

"A magical storage unit!" Steven said, running up to the building.

"Ha, not exactly. But some would say there's magic inside." Greg said, winking at his son.

While Steven didn't seem to understand what he was trying to imply, the other three simply nodded at him, letting him know that they at least got it.

"It's just a shed I use to keep things that don't fit in the van. If it's anywhere, it'll be in here." Greg said.

"Yeah, I imagine that thing not having much in the way of room. Let's open her up and see if we can't find what we're looking for." Jack said, giving Greg a hand with opening the storage unit.

Upon opening the thing, it became all too clear to everyone that this was going to be anything but easy. To say that it was packed would have been a severe disservice to the amount that Greg had seemingly managed to cram into that small space.

"Reminds me of my house on Christmas." Rafael commented.

"How many relatives do you have again?" Miko asked.

"A lot." Rafael said.

"If I'm going in there, I'm gonna need some gear." Steven said, tying a flashlight to his head with a sock.

"Hold on. With everything in there, this could take a too long. I'll go in with you." Raf said, tying himself to the same electrical cord as Steven.

"Be careful, Raf." Jack said.

"Jack, he's going into a storage shed, not going deep sea diving." Miko said.

"Don't worry, I've got him." Steven said, assuring them.

"Good luck!" Greg called out after the two as the dug their way into the storage unit.

"Woah, cool! It's like a dad museum." Steven said.

"What are we looking for again?" Rafael asked, pawing through the various items before him.

"It's supposed to be a cannon. Like a- There it is!" Steven said, reaching for the item he saw, only to realize upon pulling it out that it was a golf club. "Do you golf?"

"Eh, I'd like to think of myself as someone who would golf... eventually." Greg called out, getting skeptical looks from Jack and Miko.

Continuing to look around, Steven and Rafael were finding a lot of things, but none of them were what they needed.

"I got it!" Rafael called out, pulling out a drum from the rummage pile, "I don't got it."

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Is this-" Steven called out excitedly, thinking he had found the canon, only to find that it was a canon, but not the one they were looking for, "Buy T-Shirt cannons?"

The two continued to look, not finding much else that even resembled a canon. However, between the endless pieces of out of date clothing and strange knick-knacks, Steven did manage to find something of interest.

"Hey, there's a bunch of copies of your old CD!" Steven said, waving Rafael over to come and see.

"Huh. Oh, man, I couldn't give those things away. You know, before I ran the car wash, when I was a one-man band, I traveled the whole country." Greg called out.

"I know we're busy right now, but do you think I could get an autograph from you?" Miko asked Greg.

"Miko." Jack scolded, his voice getting testy.

In response, Miko simply huffed and folded her arms across her chest. However, Greg was a little more receptive to his fan. Tapping her shoulder, he motioned for her to come a little closer.

"Get with me later. I'll give you a signed copy of my CD." he told her.

"Yes!" Miko whispered in excitement.

Steven took one of the CDs, stuffing it into his pocket. He offered Rafael one, who took it with a smile. While he didn't know the music himself, it was only polite to take one. Even if he didn't like the music, he was sure that Miko would likely want it.

"When I came to play a concert here in Beach City, no one showed up except-" Greg reminisced.

"An Alligator!" Steven shouted, cutting him off.

"No, it was your mother." Greg replied, the other two half smiling at the absurdity of Steven's comment.

"Hahaha, I know." Steven said, lifting Rafael up so the two could dig in deeper.

"And we were always together after that. Until she gave up her physical form to bring you into the world. I don't know what a magic lady like her ever saw in a plain old dope like me." Greg said, fondly recounting his time with Rose.

While it was all a very touching thing to hear, Jack, Miko, and Rafael couldn't help but take note of what was being said. While his wording may have been a little strange, it did provide a clearer picture of what was going on with Greg Universe.

While it wasn't their place to go poking their noses into other people's business, they would all be lying if they said this didn't shed some light on the situation with Steven's dad.

So engrossed by this thought, Rafael didn't pay attention to where he was going, accidentally stepping on a glass picture frame in the process. Letting out a gasp, he looked down to see that it was of Steven's dad and his presumed to be mother. Looking over to Steven apologetically, he couldn't help but wonder how this would be taken.

"Uh, Dad, we broke a photo." Steven called out, taking part of the blame.

Rafael shot him a smile, silently thanking him for not making the issue a big problem. Steven simply smiled back in a way to say it wasn't a problem.

"It's okay buddy. If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs." Greg called out.

Looking back at the other two, Greg could help but notice the way they were looking at him. It was a kind of look that would be on par with see lobsters crawling out of his ears.

"What?" he asked them.

"... Nothing. I've uh… just never heard that one before." Jack explained.

Inside the storage unit, Rafael was giving the same puzzled look to Steven as the other two had given to Greg. Seeing this, Steven did little more than shrug with a smile. Yet, looking in Rafael's direction, he saw something glow underneath the heaps of junk. Pointing to it, Steven got Rafael to turn and look at what he was seeing.

"Huh?" Rafael said, going over to where the glow was.

The two gasped in unison when they figured out what it was.

"The light cannon!" Steven shouted in excitement.

Outside, Greg and the kids were getting more nervous over the looming threat that continued to grow ever closer.

"Oh boy, that thing's giving me the willies." Greg said, rubbing his stomach.

"Would make for some sick van art, though." Miko said.

"True." Greg agreed.

"Dad, we found it!" Steven called out to them.

"Really?" Greg asked.

"Great job guys!" Jack called to them.

Steven and Rafael quickly got to work with tying the canon to the cord.

"Get the van!" Steven called out.

Greg motioned for the other two to give him a hand. Grabbing onto the cord, all three of them heaved the canon out, Raf and Steven following close behind.

"This thing could save the city, we've gotta get it to the beach!" Steven said.

"How? We can't fit that thing inside of the van." Jack pointed out.

"We could carry it." Miko suggested.

"That would take too long. We need to find some way to… pull it or something." Rafael said.

Right as Rafael said that, a wagon came rolling out of the storage unit. Looking at each other, they simply shrugged as the three knew that they had little time and fewer options.

"Easy does it." Greg said, helping everyone situate the canon on both the wagon and the van.

They secured it to the best of their ability with the few resources they had. Once it was all in place, everyone piled into the van. Not waiting for word from anyone, Greg took off as soon as he heard the back doors shut.

"Is it gonna be okay?" Raf asked, watching the wagon bounce up and down from the back window.

"If every pork chop were perfect-" Greg began.

"We wouldn't have hotdogs!" Steven finished.

"Still not sure I get that." Miko said.

Looking out the front window, Jack noticed that the red-eye was still getting closer and closer. What was worse was the fact that the blasts from the Autobots had not seemed to be doing anything, despite how much fire they were putting to it.

"Uh Mr. Universe, not to hassle you, but can this thing go any faster?" Jack asked, frantically.

"This _is_ faster." Greg said.

"Don't worry. Come on, let's put on your CD." Steven suggested, pulling it from his pocket.

"What? Really? Come on, you've heard it." Greg said, obvious embarrassment in his voice.

"I have, but they haven't." Steven said, putting the disc into the radio.

Once the song started playing, Steven immediately started to sing along with it. While Greg was a little worried about what other people might think of one of his least known tracks, Miko was more than interested to hear something that she hadn't before.

"Wow, an unreleased track. This is awesome!" Miko said.

Meanwhile, Jack and Rafael could only look at each other, trying to figure out what they thought of music themselves.

* * *

Down at the beach, things were not looking good in the slightest. While the Autobots had kept up a continuous barrage of fire, and Amethyst had been constantly thrown at the thing, it didn't seem like they were getting anywhere with it.

"Optimus, I don't think this is working." Arcee said, watching Amethyst wash up on shore.

"Throw me again, I think I'm cracking it. Wait, is that…" Amethyst said, noticing Steven.

Everyone stopped to look at what had suddenly caught Amethyst's attention. To their delight, it looked like Steven and the others had made good on what they set out to do and found the canon.

"Hey guys!" Steven shouted to them.

"He _really_ had it!" Pearl gasped.

"Uh Steven… are those robots?" Greg asked, floored by what he was seeing.

"We'll explain later." Jack said.

Just as the van had made it to them, the sudden pull of the red-eyes own gravitational force started to be felt. Things started to lift up from the ground and around them. While the Autobots were still holding themselves in place, even they weren't immune to it.

"We have to use it now." Garnet said.

"How?" Jack asked.

"I don't know how it works, it was Rose's!" Pearl said.

"Dad, how do we use it?" Steven asked, to which Greg just shrugged.

"Great, we get a big gun and no one knows how to use it." Arcee commented.

"Steven, this is serious." Pearl said, before making a realization, "The gem. _You_ have Rose's gem."

"That's it!" Amethyst said, lifting Steven up to start rubbing him against the canon.

Everyone watched, hoping that it would have some sort of effect, but nothing was happening.

"Ah, come on!" Amethyst shouted.

"Work, you overgrown peashooter!" Miko joined in, kicking the thing.

"Stop that." Garnet said.

"It's no use." Pearl said.

"Fine, forget it. Throw me again." Amethyst said, giving up on the canon.

"I really don't think that's going to work." Rafael told her.

"Optimus, we're out of options. The only thing we can do now is evacuate." Bulkhead said.

Looking up to the red-eye and then back down at everyone else, Optimus knew that there was no time left. Everything else that had been done was not effective against that thing. Yet, in that same regard, there were still so many lives at stake.

"Guys, we can't just leave them!" Jack said.

"Yeah, there's gotta be something we can do!" Miko said.

The pull of the gravity was starting to get very intense, pulling up other, much heavier object. It was now getting to the point that Arcee was needing some assistance to keep herself on the ground. Fortunately, Bumblebee was there to give her a hand. Meanwhile, Greg was trying to see if he could figure the canon out.

"I got this… Ugh, wait, nope, maybe I don't!" Greg said, trying to stop his van.

"Please work, unlock, activate, go, please! Everyone's counting on you, you can't just be useless! I know you can help." Steven said to the canon.

"I'm afraid that evacuation may be our only option. We may not be able to save everyone here, but we will save as many as we can." Optimus said.

"It's okay, Steven. We'll figure out something else, something even better." Greg said to his son.

"R-r-r-right, if every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs." Steven said.

This time it was the Autobots turn to stop and stare. They had heard a good number of strange words and phrases out of humans before, but this was by far one of the strangest. They couldn't help but stare at Steven as if he had just sprouted wings and segmented eyes.

"I'm sorry… what?" Optimus said.

Yet, to everyone's even bigger surprise, the canon seemed to turn on.

"It's working!" Pearl said, astounded.

As the canon sprung to life, it began to glow even more. By the time that it had fully activated, the thing became too heavy and fell over. Steven tried to get it back up, but it was far too heavy for him alone. Seeing this, Optimus came down to his level.

"If I may." Optimus said, referring to the canon.

Looking at him, Steven slowly backed away from the canon to let the Autobot leader do whatever it was that he needed to. Even with them only just now knowing each other, there was something about him that just said he could handle this. Almost like a memory of a long forgotten friend.

When Steven had gotten out of the way, Optimus carefully picked up the canon in one of his hands. Even with him being the largest of the group, the canon was still a very big item for him. Yet he was still able to hold it one handed as aimed it to the red-eye.

"Stand back!" he called to the rest.

Everyone did as Optimus said, stepping a ways back from where he was. The bots all took hold of the kids and gems, sheltering them with their bodies in hopes of keeping them safe from whatever it was that was about to happen.

Just as everyone seemed ready for it, the canon went off, managing to push Optimus back ever so slightly. The light that launched into the sky took on a shape, heading straight for the red-eye.

* * *

High above the earth, the Decepticons were watching everything unfold. Starscream was all too happy to sit and watch humans be destroyed, and the slow build up of it all just made it all the more satisfying.

"Oh how truly helpless they are. Only a few more moments before-" Starscream said, not finishing his sentence.

In a flash of light, the object that they had been tracking this whole time burst in thousands of pieces, making the damage to the planet minimal at best.

"What in- What happened!?" Starscream demanded.

"I'm not sure, Lord Starscream. Whatever it was, it's been obliterated." one of the vehicons said.

"How is that possible? Soundwave, investigate, NOW!" Starscream said.

Without any movement from himself, Soundwave detached Laserbeak, sending him to see what had happened on the surface.

* * *

Down in Beach City, even though it was raining shrapnel, everyone was breathing a sigh of relief. They hadn't had an encounter that close in some time.

"Woah, where do I get one of those?!" Bulkhead asked, elated.

Lowering his arm, Optimus retracted his faceplate, giving a small smile at the fortunate turn of events. Turning around, Optimus looked to their small friends and approached them, setting the canon down in front of them.

"Your quick thinking has saved many lives today. Well done." Optimus said to Steven.

"Thanks." Steven said.

"How did you get it to work?" Miko asked.

"I just said that thing that Dad always says." Steven answered.

"That thing about pork rinds?" Pearl asked.

"Hot Dogs." Garnet corrected, looking over at Greg.

While he was thankful to be alive, Greg was even more thankful for a glimpse at his beloved Rose. It was fleeting and only lasted a moment, but he would remember it for a while.

Yet he was quickly pulled out of it when he saw the tide coming towards his van.

"My van!" Greg yelled.

"It's okay, Dad, if every pork chop were perfect-" Steven started.

"I LIVE in there!" Greg shouted.

"Oh boy. Bulk, let's go give them a hand." Miko said, motioning for her guardian to follow her.

While Miko and Bulkhead ran down with Steven to give Greg a hand, the others knew that things were far from over. While the crisis had been averted, there was still the matter of what they were going to do next.

"Uh, I think that we have a lot to talk about." Jack said to the Gems.

"Yes… we do." Pearl said, looking to Optimus.

* * *

Unbeknownst to both the Gems and Autobots, there was a little eye in the sky trying to figure out what was happening below. Up in the Nemesis, the feed that Laserbeak was providing proved to be useful, but also infuriating to the Decepticon commander.

"Autobots. I should have known. It doesn't matter where it is, they always interfere with everything we do." Starscream vented, slamming his fist on the control panel.

He continued to watch the video feed, noting that there were more than just Autobots down there.

"It would seem that they are also trying to inflate their numbers by adding more… wait." Starscream said, zooming in on the footage, realizing that it wasn't just humans down there.

"Oh isn't this perfect? Now we not only have to worry about Autobots… but Gems as well."


	3. Chapter 3

With the immediate threat of the Red Eye now out of the way, the gems and the Autobots were able to get to a few new pressing matters. One of the main ones being "what were they supposed to do now that more people knew about them?".

Yet, of even bigger concern than that, how was it that the two factions knew about each other? And how was it that Optimus already knew about them being on the planet?

"Optimus, why didn't you ever tell us that there were Gems on this planet? This is a matter of great concern for both us and the humans." Ratchet said, shocked at the fact that Optimus would keep such a secret from all of them.

Rather than trying to explain themselves out in public where everyone could see and hear them, the Autobots decided instead to take their new acquaintances back to their base. Even with many likely now aware of what they did, they didn't want anymore knowing than what was necessary.

While Ratchet had obviously voiced his own opinion on things, especially after learning what it was they were dealing with, he wasn't about to tell Optimus what should and shouldn't be done about outsiders. Yet of true importance, and what was on almost everyone's mind, was how Optimus ever came to know about them in the first place.

"It was many years ago, and I had no reason to bring it up. Even with them being on the planet, there are too few of them to actually make a substantial difference in our current mission." Optimus told him.

"Optimus, with all due respect, knowing about Gems on any planet is something of a big deal. Regardless of how many there are." Arcee argued.

"I almost didn't recognize what they were at first. It's been so long since we've seen any." Bulkhead added.

"You know, this is all really important, but what are you talking about?" Amethyst asked.

"Yeah, I'm… pretty lost myself." Greg said.

"Yeah. Where did you guys come from? Who made you? And how do you know about gems?" Steven asked.

Bumblebee let out a series of beeps, trying to ask a question of his own to Steven and the rest, but no one outside of Rafael and the other Autobots could understand him.

"It indeed has been a very long time since then, Bumblebee. I will do my best to explain things, however." Ratchet offered.

"Eons ago, before any of us were aware of this planet, before the civil war of our kind, before some of us were even alive, Cybertron faced a threat like none it had ever seen before. During the golden age, our kind would often travel to different star systems to scout out and map the galaxy. Yet no one was ready when we came to be visited ourselves. While it was not uncommon for our ancestors to come in contact with aliens, we were typically the ones to greet them. What was worse, these life forms, Gems as we later came to know them as were anything but friendly. They sent a full-scale invasion force, with the intent of taking Cybertron over. While many details have been lost from the archives, what is known is that both sides suffered heavy casualties. Gems presented new methods of fighting and strategy that had yet to be seen by our people. Thankfully, due to many of the advancements of our kind and having the advantage of being on our home, they were able to push the invaders back. Ever since that day, Gems have been seen as enemies to all Cybertronians." Ratchet said.

"Is there gonna be a test? Because I'm terrible at remembering stuff?" Amethyst said.

"Do you not understand what it is I'm trying to say? By all accounts, we should have assumed you to be hostile. If it weren't for Optimus… well, let's just say that there are a lot of factors that could have changed our reaction had we met under different circumstances." Ratchet said.

"I'm well aware of this, but things are much different from then." Pearl said.

"So you fought gems in the past, but what are you guys doing here?" Steven asked.

"A fair question, Steven. It comes down to two things. The first being that our planet is not habitable, and second is that there is a danger facing your planet. One in the form of our own kind." Optimus said.

"You're own kind? What does all of this mean?" Garnet asked.

"Civil war broke out on our planet centuries ago. Our kind was split into two factions. The Autobots, which is who we are, and the Decepticons." Arcee said.

"The who now?" Greg asked.

"The Decepticons. They're like us, but they're fighting for different reasons. Mainly because they want power." Bulkhead answered.

"You know guys, getting a recap on everything is cool and all, but I have a rather serious question. How did she know Optimus?" Jack asked, pointing at Pearl.

There was a brief period of silence between both sides, waiting for one of them to give an explanation. Pearl and Optimus eyed each other, not sure what to say. Finally, when the silence became too much, Pearl nodded at him, signaling that it was okay to let everyone know.

"It was many years ago when I came across this group. Or, to be more accurate, I came across the leading member of the group, Rose Quartz." Optimus said.

"You met Rose?" Amethyst asked.

"Yes. While I was cautious to approach her at first, she made it clear quickly that there was no hostile intent to us. When I questioned why she was on this planet, the explanation greatly surprised me. To know that your kind had been waging its own civil war put many things into perspective on how difficult things were becoming for everyone in the galaxy." Optimus said.

"She never told any of us about this. Except for Pearl, it would seem." Garnet said.

"Well, as you can see, Optimus didn't really tell us either." Bulkhead said.

"It was deemed necessary. With how much things had changed for both of our kind, we couldn't risk the possibility of reigniting a long forgotten war. So, privately, we brokered an agreement. While we would do our best to keep our factions secret, it seemed that our goal was one and the same. To protect this planet at all costs." Optimus said.

"That still doesn't explain how she knows about you. If only you and this Rose person ever talked, how did she find out about you?" Raf asked.

"It was very last minute, but with the circumstances she was facing at the time, she needed to pass along the information to someone. We met one night to discuss the arrangement, and it was there that I met him. While it was all shocking, I understood why this alliance was important." Pearl said.

"And you didn't think that we deserved to know!?" Amethyst asked, rather angry at the revelation.

"I was sworn to secrecy! I wasn't about to break my promise!" Pearl argued back.

"Does it really matter now? Everything is out in the open now. Whatever secrets that were being kept don't matter anymore." Jack said.

"He's right. We can't worry about what was, because what's happening right now is far more important." Garnet said.

"Agreed. Which leads us to another matter. That being your safety." Optimus said.

"Optimus, while I don't think the Decepticons are aware of any of this, we don't have the numbers to send more out protecting them regardless." Ratchet said.

"You are correct in this matter, Ratchet. However, I don't believe that is entirely necessary. While the Decepticons are a cause for concern, I believe that they will be able to handle themselves. There is a reason that their kind was able to wage war with ours after all." Optimus said.

"Heck yeah, we can handle ourselves! Any creep tries to come near us, I'll split them in half like a dumpster." Amethyst said.

"However, I still feel we should have some sort of contact with you. With you now directly involved with us, there is no telling what Starscream might do." Optimus said.

"Who?" Steven asked.

"Starscream. He's the current leader of the Decepticons ever since their old one got vaporized. While he can't stack up to his predecessor, he's hard to predict." Bulkhead said.

"Ah geez, how do I manage to keep getting myself roped into this kind of stuff? Oh, that reminds me." Greg said, pulling out one of his CD's before signing it and handing it to Miko. "I like to keep my promises."

"Sweet!" Miko said, reaching for it.

"Ahh, ahh, ahh! I don't think so." Bulkhead said, taking the CD from Greg before Miko could take it.

"Hey! What gives?" Miko asked.

"I told you we were going to have a talk, Miko. From what Bee said, you were the one poking around back there and caused all of this." Bulkhead said.

"What? But if we hadn't shown up, everything would have gone terrible. And really Bee, you sold me out?" Miko said.

Bumblebee merely shrugged, unsure of what to say. However, Bulkhead intervened before things could go any further.

"That's not the point, Miko. You need to learn that you can't just go places without knowing what's there." Bulkhead said.

"Aww, come on, Bulk! When did you start being my dad?!" Miko whined.

Before the conversation could continue, however, flashing lights went off in the base.

"What's going on?" Pearl asked.

"The rooftop alert. Someone's landing up top." Ratchet said.

"Fowler, no doubt." Arcee suggested.

"Should have known this was coming. That incident was anything but subtle." Jack said.

"Who's Fowler?" Steven asked.

"Agent Fowler is our designated liaison to the outside world. As well as our first contact for anything that goes awry." Optimus said.

"Wait a minute, I thought you guys had to keep yourself hidden." Amethyst said.

"Even we can't stay hidden all the time, so we need someone to help with when things get… messy, for lack of a better term." Arcee answered.

"Well, shouldn't we get out of here? I mean, him knowing about us can't be a good thing." Pearl said.

"In case you hadn't noticed, we're not Autobots either." Miko said.

"Yeah, but they also aren't humans either, Miko. Not to mention, I don't think Fowler is going to take having more people knowing about this whole thing well." Jack said.

Before any further argument could develop, the light to the elevator leading from the rooftop flashed. Bumblebee pointed it out to everyone, giving off an alarmed set of beeps to everyone. Acting quick, he positioned himself in front of the group, trying to hide them.

"Too late now." Raf said.

Once the light turned off, the elevator doors opened to reveal a highly irritated agent Fowler. Giving one quick scan of the room, Fowler's eyes fell on Prime as he exited the elevator.

"You know, I'm beginning to miss the days when the worst I had to worry about was you guys having too many traffic incidents. Now it's things like planet-wide invasions and near destruction of cities." Fowler said, clearly stressed out.

"Agent Fowler, while we did intervene with this incident, we were not the ones cause it." Optimus explained.

"I'd never accuse you of causing the problem, Prime. The issue is how the problem was resolved." Fowler said.

"You wanna explain how we were supposed to take care of this subtly?" Bulkhead asked.

"I'm more interested in knowing what this was and how you didn't catch the cons beforehand." Fowler said.

"There is little reason to think that the Decepticons had anything to do with this. Even with the desperation they likely face without their old leader, it would serve no purpose to destroy a town." Ratchet said.

"Oh right, the Cons would never do something like that. I must be mistaking them for the other aliens we have on the planet." Fowler said in a sarcastic tone.

The gems couldn't help but look at each other at that statement. While everyone knew that the remark was not serious, they also knew that it was, in fact, a true statement. The real issue was how they were going to tell him.

"Even if the Decepticons were involved somehow, what sense would it make to just start throwing objects at the planet's surface?" Arcee argued.

"What does it matter what kind of sense it makes!? All that matters now is that we have a city that was nearly destroyed because of this. Now it's my job to explain this all away. So, unless we all want to wind up on the evening news, I'm gonna need some help on this one!" Fowler said.

"Well we have nothing to hide, so we can give you a hand." Steven announced before anyone could get their hand over his mouth.

Fowler, having never heard that voice from anyone, turned to see what looked like a boy that couldn't be much older than Rafael. Once he was seen, Bumblebee figured that there wasn't much point in hiding the others, so he sidestepped to reveal the rest of the gems.

"This again? Are you charging rent for this place or something?" Fowler asked.

"It was both necessary and unavoidable to reveal ourselves to them." Optimus said.

"When isn't it with you guys?" Fowler said, sighing. "Alright look, I'm not going to try and get headquarters involved this time. I'm still answering questions for the last incident. So, instead, lets just get some info."

Walking toward the group, Fowler pulled out a pad of paper and a pen from his jacket. He didn't like this when the kids were here, and he doubted that this was going to be any more pleasant. Yet it seemed that some of them were at least adults, so it might make it easier to answer questions.

On the other end of the spectrum, Steven and the gems were rather nervous about this whole thing. This man came in and presented a great air of authority, even going so far as to speak in an authoritative way to beings several times his size.

He was not the type that would be talked down easily.

"Alright, let's get this over with. You first, what's your name?" Agent Fowler asked, pointing at Garnet.

"... Garnet." she answered after a long pause.

"Last name?" Fowler said, not paying any mind to the strange name.

"That's it." she said.

"Look, I get it. You don't want the government tracking you. I'm not gonna ask anything serious, just some standard information. So work with me, what's your last name?" Fowler asked again.

"That's my only name." she answered.

"You're telling me you don't have a last name?" Fowler asked.

"I didn't realize that you needed one." Garnet said.

Fowler pinched the bridge of his nose, realizing that this was going to be very difficult. Even more so than when he got info from the kids.

"Alright let's come back to that later. What's your age?" Fowler said, moving on.

"Well I've been on earth for over five thousand years, but I lost track of time before that." Garnet answered.

"Alright, are you being funny with me, or is this one of those new lifestyles I don't keep up with?" Fowler asked, crossing his arms.

"No sir, she's being honest with you. She's-" Steven started, only to be cut off by Pearl covering his mouth.

"She's been trying out some new things lately, so you'll have to excuse things. We've all been doing it." Pearl nervously explained.

"I see… That's some pretty intense body piercing you got there." Fowler said, referring to the gem in Pearl's forehead.

Bumblebee let out a series of beeps to Fowler, who simply looked at him with confusion.

"He said it's part of their bodies and that it's how they're born on their planet." Raf translated, only to immediately cover his mouth with his hands in realization in what he just did.

"Planet? More Aliens?!" Fowler said in realization.

"Agent Fowler now is not the time to lose our tempers." Optimus said.

"This is the perfect time to lose my temper, Prime! Do you realize what I'm going to have to go through now!? Reallocation, redistribution of supplies and new monitoring for them! This is going to be a nightmare just to get them somewhere to be monitored!" Fowler yelled.

"Why start now? You didn't know about us before." Amethyst said.

"That is not the point, short stack! The point is-" Fowler said, getting interrupted by Optimus.

"Agent Fowler, this is accomplishing nothing. While I understand your concerns, I think I know something that will alleviate all of this." Prime said in his same even tone.

"I'm all ears Prime, but I hope this is good. This is a twenty-foot hole I got here, and I'll take any help to dig myself out." Fowler said, crossing his arms again.

"As they have already said, they have gone undetected for some time now. I think that is not only a testament to their ability to remain undetected but also a way for them to not consume resources as well. In addition, I see no reason that your chain of command needs to know about them." Optimus explained.

"I don't think I follow, Prime." Fowler said in skepticism.

"I know that you are not reporting the children to your superiors, and with good reason. I propose that you do the same with them." Optimus offered.

"Prime, this is a lot bigger than just some kids finding out about something they shouldn't. This is a case of new life forms being on our planet. They-" Fowler said, being interrupted by Optimus again.

"Are far better at passing for inhabitants of this planet than we are. If they have been managing to keep themselves unseen for this long, I think that they can continue to do so now." Optimus offered.

"That is a very big risk, Prime. Especially now that they are involved with you. No offense, I know that you try to keep things on the down low, but that doesn't always pan out, especially with recent company." Fowler said.

"Hey!" Miko shouted.

"They can maintain the same deniability as them. They pass for human far more than we do. We will also keep close tabs on them to ensure that nothing else happens without us knowing. Let this be our burden instead of your own." Optimus said.

There was a very long pause as everything was thought over. Not just by Fowler, but by everyone in the room.

From the other Autobots because it meant more responsibility by needing to look after more people. From the kids due to them likely needing to be involved. But mostly by the gems, due to their lives likely being compromised by all of this.

Yet, before anyone could get a word out to argue against this, Fowler made his decision.

"Alright Prime, you got a deal. This is the furthest thing from perfect, but it's far better than the other option. But if anything happens with them, anything at all, I'm putting my report in as it being your team." Fowler told him.

"We will take all responsibility." Optimus said without argument.

"Alright. I got one crazy story I need to work up, so I have to go. I'll be in touch with these four later." Fowler said, heading to the elevator, "Try not to endanger the planet while I'm gone."

Once agent Fowler had left, Optimus knew that there were going to be a lot of questions from everyone in the room. No sooner had the doors closed did they start.

"What was that?! How could you do something like that without talking to us first?!" Pearl shouted to Optimus.

"I don't normally agree with strangers, but she has a point. This is some serious stuff you just signed us up for, Optimus." Arcee said.

"I am well aware, but it was a necessary thing to do." Optimus said.

"How so?" Pearl asked.

"If I had not intervened, it would have only lead to more problems for you." Optimus explained.

"Yet now that responsibility falls to us, Optimus. What are we supposed to do now?" Ratchet asked.

"I understand everyone's cause for concern, but I have a way to circumvent much of this." Optimus said.

"If anyone can come up with a plan, it's you Optimus." Jack said, hiding his inner worry very well.

"Our daily reports to agent Fowler are among one of the things we have been asked to keep up with. With you now under our watch, you become one of the things we must keep track of. While we will be required to give reports on you, you will still be able to live your own lives." Optimus explained.

The Gems and Autobots were given pause once again. It was hardly an ideal solution, but it wasn't one that was new to the kids. It was a similar situation to what they had, but they often came to the base for protection. It wasn't perfect, but it let them keep living somewhat normal lives.

"I don't buy all of this. There has to be some kind of catch." Amethyst said.

"I will require only two things from you. The first being that at least one of you comes to our base on a daily basis to allow us to give an honest report on you. The second being more involved. That being that, if anything arises on your own end, you inform us so that we can be there to aid you. As you are part of us now, it is only right that we own up to our own promises." Optimus said.

It was strange to the gems, and everyone else in the room, how Optimus could so easily weave a solution around what was just a very big problem. While it certainly wasn't an ideal solution, and it didn't fix everything, it did ease many of the concerns.

"You mean that we get to visit you guys every day?" Steven asked, excited about the prospect.

"So it would seem." Ratchet said, far less enthused.

"Alright, new hang out!" Steven shouted, running over to the Jack and the rest, "This is gonna be so cool. And you guys can come over to our place every day too."

"Uh, Steven…" Pearl said, trying to get him to calm down to no avail.

"Sweet! Spending days at the beach! This is going to rule! Not to mention, I get some time with one of the best rockers out there!" Miko said with equal enthusiasm.

While Miko, Steven, and Amethyst were all excited about this prospect, everyone else was far less happy. Yes, things had been solved for the short term, but things over the long term seemed uncertain. It was an uneasy event they were facing ahead of them, and nothing was certain.

Yet, on the Autobots side at least, they knew Optimus was more than ready to do whatever it took for this to go as well as it possibly could. Even then, there was no way to know for sure what would happen with their new acquaintances.

"Oh boy, this has just made my life even crazier than it already was." Greg groaned.

"I know, isn't it great!" Miko said, before realizing something, "Hey, Bulkhead, can I get my CD back now?"

"I don't think so, we still haven't had that talk." Bulkhead said.

"Oh come on, what is up with you!?" Miko complained.


End file.
